Is the American Auto Industry Dead?

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In my opinion, it’s the union that is shafting the automobile industry. Last I heard it costs us an average of $73/hour to make an automobile, while Japanese manufacturers make cars at around $30/hour, and better quality also. It’s also getting to the point where American autos are getting more expensive than the foreign counterpart.

I believe the government should give them a loan on one condition, they have to renegotiate the contract between the company and the union, that’s pretty much the only remaining way to cut auto costs, something that America needs right now.

Of course, if Democrats are so “for the people”, like they say they are, why not bail out the American people instead of all of these companies? A half-million per American citizen bailout would help pay off outstanding loans, and encourage people to spend money and invest. Of course, if America can’t figure out how to “reserve”, then we’d probably be right back in the same thing.

To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, the American auto industry isn’t quite dead, yet … but it’s surely in the midst of monumental change … change that’s long overdue.

Neil Young penned a piece for Huffington Post yesterday that illustrates a clear lifeline for at least one of the major manufacturers. This scenario sounds as good as any I’ve heard to date, and echos a good bit of what Andy Grove said this past summer. We need to act quickly and decisively to implement the technology we have on hand, using the vehicles that are already rolling off the assembly line or are sitting in lots across the land …

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/neil-young/how-to-save-a-major-autom_b_143749.html

If I had the capital to match my dreams, I’d buy 500 F-150s, Silverados, or Dodge Rams from dealer lots right now. I’d load them all on a train and have them shipped to a factory to be remanufactured and remarketed as plug-in electric pickups.

We have the technology to do this right now.

You are so correct. American auto makers cannot compete against the Japanese. In large part because of unions, US autoworkers cost the employer 2-3 times more than the Japanese car makers pay. Employees are any business’ largest expense and unions intend on keeping it that way. If Obama gets his way, we’ll have unions everywhere driving business out of the country before you know what hits you.

Whether or not they survive, the cost will be huge. The number of employees that would collect unemployment would be huge and the pension fund shortfall would require government intervention.

In addition, it is estimated that there are 8 non-UAW workers for each Big Three worker supporting the industry at small suppliers and in maintenance and supportive roles. These would also presumably lose their jobs. In places like Flint, Michigan where I live, the impact would be catastrophic.

I would suggest that a governmental/industry partnership would be cheaper and better serve our nations interests in the long run. There is also a national security factor. We would be wise to retain some significant level of manufacturing capacity in the event we needed it for national defense. It helped the north win the Civil War and the U.S. win WW2.

Yes, the ‘American’ auto industry is dead. But, looking closer, you’ll see that many Japanese car developers are looking to bring business to the U.S, such as Toyota in Michigan.

The ‘American’ auto industry is dead, but if Japanese auto makers keep doing what they’re doing, then we might see light shed on the Americans quite soon.

The American Auto industry, atleast to me, has been dying since gas prices have gone up. Foreign automakers just make better, more efficient vehicles. There’s no question about the gas consumption ratios between a Mazda and a Chevy, the only difference is the Chevy is American Made and therefore has a pride following to it. It ultimately comes down to how you define whether or not you want to be prideful of living in America, or actually saving money for other things.

I think the auto industry is fading away, but I think there is a good chance that we will see it bounce back up if our economy gets fixed. So in my opinion, we won’t see it come to an end, but it will fade for quite some time.

i think that they will be on the low profile for a while, but then when they finaly go no gas they will come back

I’ve been telling people this for awhile, let the companies go bankrupt, it’ll be good for them. They’ll restructure and come out a better company.
Why should the government waste any more money on them?

Recently the US car industry has really improved the quality of its cars to the point where they are exportable to europe

well, I don’t want to get involved in this discussion, but I for one am very fond of turtles.

The American Auto industry has lagging a lot in the pasts few years. The Japanese market has taken it’s place here. Many build their cars here. It will be hard to recuperate from that, if they even can. I think a huge portion of the problem is the reduction in quality of American cars. Until they can get in touch with their consumer base again I thing they will continue to lose customers.

With the golbal money crisis it really hard to see american firms like ford aston martin doge or any other firms .. makin any profit some uk firms have alredy started to cut productivity by more than 40%. from what i can see it looks like all car firms are losing more money than they are making.

No amount of money can help the American Auto Industry unless it makes some drastic changes. Back when the USA had no real competition in manufacturing, we could compete here at home even with the high cost of Unions. Now we are in direct competition with the entire World and must become competitive if we are to survive. We must rid ourselfs of all the Demons dragging us down.

The American auto industry should shoulder a major blame for the problem that they’re having. They refused to look into alternative energy sources for the autos. They colluded with the oil industry and allowed the oil industry to dictate to them what types of drive systems are appropriate for cars. The auto industry dumped steam even though the old Stanley Steamer held the land speed record for over 50 years and didn’t need gasoline. They dumped the electric car, which didn’t need gasoline, in the 1930s even though it could have been further developed. They refused to bring the 100 MPG carburator out even though it existed for over 50 years and would force the oil companies into a backlog of gasoline. And still the oil industry is dictating that they absolutely must be an integral part of the drive system of the automobile.

ALEX:
100 mpg carb on real lifesize car? what have you been smoking?

[...] Is the American Auto Industry Dead? [...]

Thank God that American car companies are allowed to compete in foreign countries as freely as those foreign companies are allowed to sell here.

And it’s especially wonderful that the American government takes care of health care for all of its citizens, just like those other automobile selling countries; otherwise they’d have to pay for employee health care by adding it in to the cost of the vehicle.

Uh wait, oh, I see — those statements above are incorrect.

We don’t have free access (no tariffs, extraordinary rules) in other countries. And the car companies have to pay for health care for all of its employees (especially legacy retirees).

Never mind.

The US auto industry has been coddle to long. They know the government will always bail them out. Why would any politician ever want to have that on their record as being part of allowing the US automakers to fail.

Just like an overprotective parent to a spoiled child the US auto industry will continue to feed the executives first at the expense of consumer quality. Who gets the short of the stick? Tax payers who are always footing the bill to bail them out so we don’t loose jobs. It’s about time US automakers learn their lesson.

Yes GM has the Volt coming out but what happened last time when gas prices went down (as they are now after the 2008 elections) when they tried to push an all electric car out. GM shredded everyone they made so there was no proof they even tried. I have a feeling GM will scrap the Volt just like the EV to continue to line oil executives’ and politicians’ pockets. The excuse: Gas prices went down and they were not popular. Umm did you guys forget there is an actual waiting list for a Volt and gas prices will fluctuate just like other market trends?

Let ‘em die. If they are going to let Unions bury there business…bye bye. There are other car companies in the US that these workers go too. All major car companies have plants in the U.S. just the corporate hq is usually in their country. My tax dollars shouldn’t go to a company whose car I don’t even drive. As for the person comparing Mazda and Chevy. Mazda is Ford.

This is just great. Another poor-managed industry running to the American public to bail them out from a situation that they created themselves. I agree with some of the comments above, let the companies go bankrupt so they can re-organize themselves. Congress needs to do a better job than just handing out checks to these companies. Ford, GM and Chrysler aren’t actually creating good cars, their cars are inferior to the Japanese, so why should we support and industry that create bad products? Like a few of the readers said up there, Congress should help the American taxpayer by giving them the cash, so they can pay off their debts,and lifting the economy up in the process.